Uniting fashion and function at Whistler’s newest market

Creekside’s retail area has gotten a bit quieter in recent
months — Morgan’s and Una Mas have closed their doors, and the farmer’s
market, which was held each Saturday last summer, has been noticeably absent
from the area this year.

But one woman is looking to get Creekside bustling again, with
savvy shoppers looking to score fashionable finds.

Ingrid Doerr is coordinating the new Creekside Fashion and
Lifestyle Market, which will offer up the creative and stylish wares of almost
40 vendors from throughout the province this Saturday afternoon.

Doerr, a resident of North Vancouver and owner of her own silk
screening business, participates in Vancouver’s Portobello West fashion and art
market on the last Sunday of each month. But recently, she found that it had
become somewhat “stale,” with a lot of the same clientele returning week after
week.

“I find the vendors change quite a bit, which is good, but
you’re still getting the same customers coming,” Doerr said.

She believes Whistler could use a regular venue for selling
handmade goods, rather than simply brand ware, and when she realized that
Whistler’s tourism-driven economy would provide a steady rotation of customers
from all over the world, she decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Doerr pitched her idea to Intrawest and the Whistler Creekside
Merchant’s Association. They gave her the go-ahead to hold the market this
once, on a trial basis.

“I don’t think Whistler has ever had anything like this,
because it’s not just a market — it’s where small businesses can display
their products and hopefully get into retailers up in Whistler,” Doerr said.

She explained that a lot of buyers use markets like Portobello
West to find up and coming companies. She hopes the new Creekside Fashion and
Lifestyle Market will offer similar opportunities for small businesses to grow
out of the market, and move into established local retailers.

“As a small business, it’s really hard to make money doing it,
and your margins are a little bit better, at a retail level, in a market, so it
does help you with your wholesale, as well,” she explained.

If all goes well, Doerr hopes her market will become a regular
event, held once a month, and that she will have a chance to hold a three-day
pre-Christmas market in mid-November.

“They just want to see how it will go, and I think it will go
better than they expect,” she said.

The space Doerr has been allocated is the entirety of World Cup
Plaza, from the bridge to the Creekside Gondola, a space that can accommodate
up to 70 vendors.

“I got approval a little late,” Doerr explained. “So there’s
actually a lot of vendors that are already booked that really want to do the
fall shows, but are booked for this month, so they won’t be here.”

But the new market isn’t meant to compete with the existing
farmer’s market held in the upper village, or the Whistler Art Council’s annual
Bizarre Bazaar.

“The farmer’s market at Blackcomb is at capacity — they
can’t add anymore,” Doerr pointed out. “So I think it just enhances it.”

Products at the new market will range from items for babies,
kids, adults, and even four-legged friends — leather bibs, dog leashes
and collars, long boards, skateboards, and much more. While the focus is
heavily on apparel, the market will also include some crafty wares, with
merchants selling jewelry, glassware, and the like.

“Anything that involves part of your lifestyle,” Doerr
explained.

At the first market, shoppers can expect to see lots of goods
geared towards children.

“I probably have six or seven different vendors of kids’ stuff,
and that includes cool little T-shirts,” Doerr said, adding that the market
will also feature products of at least one local kids clothing company,
Milkshaxs.

All of the products are made in Canada, and at the first
market, there will be a lot of vendors carrying sports apparel and gear for
kids.

“I want it to suit the demographic of Whistler,” Doerr said.
“It has to appeal to the people that are going up there.”

Over half of the vendors come from Vancouver, but Doerr expects
that to change over time.

“I’ll be looking for small businesses that are starting up
funky golf lines, you know, things like that,” she said. “There are a lot of
small businesses out there that are doing cool things.”

Eventually, Doerr may even try to start up Creekside’s defunct
farmer’s market again, incorporating it into the new event, though she would
still hold a fashion-focused market once a month.

Small business owners interested in getting involved in future
markets can contact Doerr at
wcmarket@gmail.com
.